Scared Silly
by artigiano
Summary: My entrance for Cullen's Bull Pen Challenge for October. Summary: Why she hates Halloween.


**This is my entrance for Cullen's Bull Pen Challenge for October. Theme: Jeepers Creepers! It's all about--- You guessed it! Halloween! **

**Disclaimer: Duh. So don't own it. _Why _do I still say that?**

**Thanks so much for reading! Please don't forget to review!**

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"Boo!" Seeley Booth ducked into Temperance Brennan's office, a smile on his face. It was only a few days from Halloween now, and he was really getting in the spirit.

"Booth, must you really insist on doing that every time you walk into my office?" Temperance asked dryly, looking up from the computer screen. Apparently, she wasn't as into the Halloween spirit as Booth had hoped.

"Come on Bones! You have to get into the mood!" He rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Didn't you ever go trick-or-treating when you were little? Didn't you ever dress up for school? Didn't you ever have a party where you had to bob for apples, carve pumpkins, and all that other crap? You can't say that you didn't- every kid does!"

Temperance just stared at him. "You do realize that Halloween is just a commercial holiday, having no real meaning. In fact, Halloween wasn't celebrated until the late 20th century, and originated from the Celtic Samhain. Some say that All Hallow's Eve was also partly where Halloween came from but-"

Booth cut her off, holding up his hands in a gesture obviously indicating her to stop. "Whoa, whoa, whoa; stop right there Bones. I _like _Halloween- its fun and I get to spend time with Parker. I don't need you ruining it for me with all your historic mumbo jumbo."

"It is not "mumbo jumbo" as you seem to keep referring to it. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being scared of Halloween…" She mumbled.

"Yes there is…Wait, did you say _scared?_" Booth laughed. "How can you be scared of Halloween?" By this time Booth was bent over from laughing so hard, and tears were pricking at the corner of his eyes.

"Booth, stop it! Booth!" Temperance glared at him. "Seeley, stop laughing right now- it's not funny!" She was standing over him, glaring at him with ice in her eyes.

"It- it is funny." He finally managed to spit out. "Nobody is scared of Halloween!" He added when he finally calmed down. He wiped away the tears that had leaked from his eyes, and then finally looked up to meet her icy gaze. "What?"

"I'm not scared, per say, I just…" She stopped and looked down at her fingernails. "I never thought I would have to tell you this!" She added quietly in an annoyed voice. "I hate spiders."

Booth was silent for a moment, before answer. "Spiders? You're scared of spiders?" For some reason, he found this even funnier then when she first admitted that she was scared of Halloween. Booth laughed for another five minutes or so before speaking again. "How can you be scared of spiders? They're just bugs? Just eight legs, eight eyes, with a big hairy body-"

"Stop!" Temperance put her hands over her ears, yelling at Booth. "Just stop it! I don't need to hear anymore!" She shivered despite herself. "All those legs, and they're so huge, and I just don't like them. They're creepy."

"That's not a reason to be scared of them Bones. That just means you don't like them." Booth said seriously. He glanced at her again and saw that she was squirming slightly. "But that's not the only reason you don't' like spiders, is it?"

"This was not something I ever planned on telling you; or anyone else for that matter! What would people say if one of the top forensic anthropologist in the world was scared of spiders?" She said again, finally sinking onto the couch next to Booth. "Well, I guess I can't back out of it now. When I was really little, I had a nightmare once about spiders- in it they were crawling all over me, and it was horrible. They were everywhere, and I couldn't escape them. I kept calling for help, for my brother but no one came. There were just spiders everywhere. I could feel them on me, on my skin. It wasn't just one of those nightmares that you laugh at the next day and forget about the next week. No, it was one of those that you remember all of you life. It scared me so much.

"The next day was Halloween, and everywhere I went there were skeletons, vampires, Frankenstein's…and spiders. There were spiders at the school, spiders in the windows, on doors, on the mailboxes next to our house. Anytime I opened my eyes, it seemed like one of them was looking back at me. And then the nightmare would come back to me, and I would start to feel like they were crawling on me again. After that, every time I saw a spider, I would just become paralyzed with fright. That still happens to me." She shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of those memories. "It's an irrational fear I know, but I just hate Halloween for that reason."

Booth laughed again, but this time it was kind. "Bones, Bones, Bones didn't anyone ever tell you that _everyone _has irrational fears? Heck, I'm scared of…Never mind." Suddenly, Booth was blushing.

"Oh, come on! I told you what scares me most, and then you just leave me hanging!" She scoffed. "Besides, whatever happened to 'if someone tells you something personal, you have to offer something personal in return'?"

Booth laughed. _How did she remember? I said that several months ago! _"You got me Bones, you got me. Truth is I'm scared of flying?"

"Flying? How can you be scared of flying? Do you know your chance of dying in an airplane accident is 1 in 35000 or so? And you are 66 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack. Not to mention-"

"Whoa Bones, don't get all scientific on me! I thought we agreed no more jumbo!" They both laughed, and she hit him playfully on the arm. He sobered again immediately, turning to face Temperance. "See, but that's just it. All of those facts that you just listed are completely true, and I know that. But no matter how many times I get on a plane, I start flipping out when we take off. I have to be reading or doing something to take my mind off it the fact that I'm flying. It's not so bad once we actually get in the air, but before that I'm a wreck." They both smiled, and sat in silence for a few moments.

"But you jumped on a plane to New Orleans without a thought." Brennan said after a while.

Booth smiled. "That's because my partner needed me, and I knew that I was getting on that plane no matter what. But if I let myself think about it, then I totally freak out and can hardly get myself on. Get it?"

Brennan nodded slowly, starting to smile. "Yeah, I think." Their silence was interrupted by Booth's phone ringing.

"Booth." He listened for a few moments. "Okay, I'll be right there." He turned to his partner. "I gotta go- something with a case just came up."

Brennan nodded, "Okay, I'll talk to you later."

He grinned. "Of course." Standing up, Booth brushed imaginary lint of his shirt, as though stalling. Then, before Temperance realized what was happening, he leaned back down swiftly and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Happy Halloween, Temperance."

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**AN: I too, am completely scared of spiders. I hate them. Plain and simple hate them. Although, I still LOVE Halloween:) **

**By the way, what is going on with getting no alerts? It's driving me insane! **

Thanks again for reading!

**Charlotte**


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